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Tesla Announces Q2 Financial Results

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Minutes ago, Tesla Motors released its latest shareholder letter divulging results from its second quarter this year.

The start-up from Fremont, Calif. reports net income (non-GAAP) increased by 70 percent to $26 million over Q1.

Sales for Q2 were a record of 5,150 Model S sedans to North America. The total since launch is now 12,700 units according to Tesla, out of which, 10,050 were from 2013 sales.

The company launched the Model S in July 2012 but took several months of halting steps to ramp up to full volume potential, thus the lion’s share of Model S sales are from this year.

Despite significant reduction in zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV) credits, Tesla says gross margins (non-GAAP) are at a rather high 22 percent per vehicle sold.

Tesla says it is on track to achieve fourth quarter gross margins of 25 percent, excluding ZEV credits which enabled the company to achieve its first quarterly profit in Q1 this year.

Last Friday, Tesla reorganized its menu of prices. Options were changed in how they are bundled and many prices changed. The base price for the 60-kwh Model S increased by $1,170 and the 85-kwh mid-level model saw a decline in its base price, but it was slightly discontented at the same time from the previous-spec same model, so in effect it too saw a price increase to achieve the same spec as before.

Some prices declined, but more were raised, and in short, Tesla generally increased net prices for how most people will configure their custom-spec’d cars, and Tesla thus says it should make more profit per car this year going forward.

Tesla says it is flush with cash also, with $750 million on hand, and this year it also eliminated its $465 million federal low-interest federal loan.

Tesla is focusing now also on the export market. Its Model S is expected to be well received among buyers in certain European markets that reward zero emissions vehicles with incentives to give cars like the Model S a competitive advantage against the old guard from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and others.